Something fishy?

I decided a while ago that the Illuminati series would be one to pick up in trade form. But it interests me enough not to want to totally ignore it while it's happening, so I have been reading about it some online. So when I saw this interview with Brian Bendis at the Newsarama site, I read it right away.

It looks all right. This quote, however, I particularly noticed:

in the fight scene with the Skrull, Namor begins it fully clothed, and, by the time it’s over, his shirt is ripped open, and more of his naked body can be seen. I know that this will cause a letter-writing campaign of my obvious disdain for fish-men, and my desire to see fish-men injured and demeaned

On the one hand, this could have been funnier if it hadn't missed the main point.

On the other hand, the promise of more of Namor's Atlantean flesh? Possibly a selling point for some. :)

I will say that it is probably true that fish-men are the last group of male superheroes who are routinely presented wearing such brief costumes--in fact, their costumes typically are briefs, specifically swimming briefs, at least historically. (There were a number of other pantsless heroes in the Golden Age, and at least one who performed admirably wearing a fetching pair of hot pants.) It's a small group, though, pretty much consisting of Namor and Triton (and Triton also sort of gets the thing where a non-human skintone seems to mean that it's okay to have less costume). In other words, why is Namor even wearing a shirt to be torn off? I don't mean in this case, because I've read the comic where he got first got out of the trunks*--I mean in general.

Fish-women, on the other hand...well, there's not a lot to say on that point, because, while they are also quite a small group (consisting of Dorma, Namora, Namorita and Marrina, and that's it as far as I am aware), their membership is all currently dead.

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* I don't have the specific issue in hand, but IIRC Namor's nifty dark blue outfit was given to him by Reed Richards after exposure to chemicals made him unable to survive out of water. (Or was it that he couldn't survive in water? It's been a while. Regardless, it was a problem.) In any case, the suit fixed the problem. I have no idea why he still wears it, since I'm pretty sure he's been back to normal for quite some time.